A Real CATastrophe

What can I say?

We rescued the wrong cat.

We got a cat whose shelter name was Leeza. She was also a new mom who had been spade on the same day as OUR mom cat. Just as the shelter informed us, our mom cat was NOT adopted by her rescuer. None-the-less, we took Leeza home, unknowingly, leaving the mom cat who they later named "Tama" and put up for adoption.

We learned all of this information because we were asked to foster a couple of kittens last week. When I explained to the shelter admin that we adopted our mom cat, and she still just wasn't herself -therefore we would forgo taking on any foster pets for now, she returned the sad news.

We have the wrong cat.

She of course was encouraging about how wonderful it is that we have taken this Leeza cat in... noting that the reason the cat was taking longer to adjust and not seeming like "herself"/Tama/Our mom cat is probably because SHE ISN'T!

Talk about a mess.

I cried. I prayed. I felt like it was too big and important for me to keep from you.

So, I shared the truth. You cried and yelled a little. You spouted about how THIS made perfect sense of all the ways this cat was NOT like your cat from the start. Why she wasn't as good to you. Why she didn't want you as much as the other cat.

I thought about the way she acted when she came... like a completely different cat. How I was so angry that she was spade and changed so much from it.

I blamed the spading and loosing her kittens... I just thought it changed her.

You said that you wanted your "real Ming" and not this "fake Ming" they gave you. I explained to you what that looked like... losing the cat you've grown to love over the past months.

You said it was okay, as long as you got your cat back. You talked about how this cat treats you different than your cat did. You were SO sure of what you wanted.

Still, I took you to see her -Tama, at the shelter.

When they brought her to us I held her and cried harder than any cat should ever be able to make me cry.

I do not need to write about my feelings. I will just say, it was a bad visit for me.

You loved seeing her. You were mad that she was so big. She is overweight and you remember her being pretty bare boned. I explained to you that this is what can happen when a cat spends months in a two by two foot cage.

Then I cried harder.

We filled out the information and put a 24 hour hold on her.

I explained that you would need to make sure this is what you wanted... to swap cats. To lose the cat who's been living in our home as a part of our family. The cat we love and call Ming.

You stood firm.

I kept crying???

Tomorrow we are going to get your cat. For good.

We haven't told you, but we will not be surrendering Ming.

We are keeping them both. Ming will be an outdoor cat. She LOVES being outside, particularly through the night, even in storms!

And Our mom cat, who you decided all on your own to name Mia, will be our indoor cat.

What a day!

And what a total CATastrophe this was.

I'm just grateful it all worked out. If that's what this is called.